


Iron Butterfly

by Dorksidefiker



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Coffeeshop AU, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-04
Updated: 2013-03-25
Packaged: 2017-11-28 04:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/670452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dorksidefiker/pseuds/Dorksidefiker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story about the families you're born with, the families you find for yourself, the lives you touch, and how sometimes you really can fix the things that are broken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, the Kink Meme plotbunnies have struck again, and they've got me writing something I absolutely NEVER thought I'd be writing: a coffee shop AU. Be gentle, it's my first.

_The first time I saw them together, I thought the old guy was trying to pick her up which was, yeah **ew** cause he's old enough to be her father, you know? And I was totally ready to just march over there and throw the old guy out, even if he was wearing a stupidly expensive suit and a death glare that could kill a moose at a hundred yards.  
  
Not that he wasn't kinda hot, in that ice king suit-and-tie wearing older man kind of way, but still, **ew**.  
  
I didn't even know their names then.  
  
I knew the girl; **of course** I knew the girl. She was there damn near every day -- out on the patio when the weather was good, inside when it wasn't. You make a girl an iced chai every day and watch her dump twelve packets of raw sugar in, you start to feel like you know them, even if you don't know their name.  
  
I called her Butterfly (but never to her face). It made sense -- she **always** had butterflies somewhere, holding her hair back on clips, splashed across her shirt, drawn around her eyes with glittering eyeshadow... she even had a pair of sandals with little butterflies on them. One time, she stumbled into **Oestre** wearing a set of strap on butterfly wings on her back while we were opening up.  
  
I remembered being surprised that Aster didn't chase her right back out with a broom or something. He just gave her black coffee until she was sober enough to totter over to the window seat and watch the sun come up.  
  
I'd only been working at **Oestre** for two weeks when the old dude in the suit appeared..._  
  
  
Aster laid a gentle hand on Jack's arm, shaking his head. "Naw mate," he whispered.  
  
"Guy's creeping up on her!" Jack hissed back. _Oestre_ was mostly empty at that point; the morning crowd looking for their caffeine fix had faded away, leaving behind only the few who wanted to linger, like Butterfly usually did. The lunch crowd wouldn't descend for an hour yet, so it really was too early for a man in an expensive suit to be making himself at home at Butterfly's table.  
  
"Look at the noses," Aster advised, returning to restocking the snacks. Despite technically owning the place, the big Aborigine liked doing most everything himself, to the point where he'd chased off four other baristas. He'd even gone so far as to resist the idea of hiring Jack on, but his business partner had ultimately overruled him, meaning that instead of spending his time goofing off, Jack actually had to _work_.  
  
Still, a little work was worth being able to keep a roof over his head, and neither Aster nor Sanderson made any mention of him taking leftovers home.  
  
"I could break his," Jack suggested brightly. Aster slapped him lightly on the back of his head, and Jack finally bothered to _look_.  
  
It was pretty easy to miss Butterfly's nose with all the bright, distracting colors she favored, but once you saw it, it was kind of unavoidable. The kindest description was 'patrician', but it really was kind of a honker. Not that it did anything to detract from her beauty...  
  
But on the whole, Jack thought the nose worked a lot better on the man's face.  
  
"Coffee," Aster said, "black, no sugar. _Now_ , Jack."  
  
  
  
 _The man in the suit didn't stay long, and they kept their conversation too quiet for anyone to really hear without obviously eavesdropping._  
  
Not that I tried. Just saying.  
  
Neither of them were happy about whatever they were talking about, and I really thought they were gonna end up having a shouting match when the man in the suit's phone went off.  
  
  
"Ah, and once again your masters pull the electronic leash."  
  
"You aren't being fair, Seraphina."  
  
"Aren't you the one who was always telling me how life's not fair? Go on, Daddy. Don't wanna keep them waiting."  
  
The man in the suit rose smoothly to his feet, planting a kiss on the top of Seraphina's hair as he slipped an envelope into her hands. "Try to be good."  
  
"I don't make promises I can't keep." Seraphina tried to shove the envelope back into his hands, but her father was already striding away, phone at his ear.


	2. Chapter 2

_I never meant to introduce my roommate to the madness. Toothiana's a sweetheart, the kind of girl that the real world just loves to chew up and spit out (not that she'll admit it cause she's stubborn that way). Yeah, she's kinda weird and a bit intense, but that's why I love her.  
  
That and she doesn't mind if I'm a little late with my share of the rent and pay her back with cups of tea (no sugar, never ever).  
  
And yeah, working at **Oestre** was really cool, but no one's ever gonna accuse anyone who works there (or spends more than 20 minutes at a time there) of being normal.  
  
There was the bossman himself, Mister E. Aster Bunnymund of Everybloodywhere, Australia -- I don't know if that's the name of an actual town or if he was just trying to get me to leave him alone about it. I also don't know what the 'E' stands for. I DO know that he's Aboriginal Australian, and the only thing he really likes is chocolate. Making it, eating it, forcing it on others even when they don't want it... lucky for him he's got a place to sell it, and a lot of people like it.  
  
Well, he's also got his Causes (there's even a Cause Jar next to the Tip Jar), but the chocolate's always stuck out more.  
  
Astor's silent partner was Sanderson Mansnoozie, and on top of everything else the little guy owned the building. Looking back, I think he financed **Oestre** mostly to keep Astor happy and to give himself a steady supply of people to watch whenever he floated downstairs. Sanderson lived in the apartment above the cafe, and was rich enough that he could be as eccentric as he wanted. Mostly, he did art.  
  
The other barista was Phil, the Sasquatch's hairier brother. I didn't actually see Phil that much; once it had been accepted that I wasn't going anywhere, I got stuck with mornings, and he did afternoons.  
  
And **then** there were the regulars. Every cafe has it's people who are there day in, day out, sometimes for hours at a time, but I liked to think ours were especially weird (not counting the homeless guys who'd camp out, cause most of them were pretty quiet).  
  
There was Seraphina, of course, with her glitter and her world weary cheer. She held court in **Oestre** sometimes, surrounded by the kind of kids who trailed after girls like her. They were all pretty and colorful and kinda useless, and after partying all night they weren't really my idea of 'fun to be around' at seven in the morning.  
  
Plus, they left glitter all over the bathroom, and that shit is a bitch and a half to clean up.  
  
Then there was North. It's kind of impossible to describe Nicholas St. North - he wasn't so much a guy as a force of nature wrapped up in a big red coat. He was **huge** in every sense of the word, towering over Aster (who towered over everyone else) and wide enough for two men, with a bushy white beard that you could hide birds in, and a voice that filled the room with laughter and old Russian songs.  
  
Kids **loved** him, and he adored them right back.  
  
Sometimes, Seraphina and North would argue loudly about Russian literature (she found Chekhov unbearably dull unless it was being done by good actors, he insisted that the problem was she was reading it in English. They both adored Gogal, and they both agreed that Anna Karenina was, while entirely too long due to Tolstoy's pontificting, a masterpiece, but couldn't agree if the rural life presented as being superior in the book really was).  
  
Sanderson always seemed pleased whenever he'd come down and find North and Seraphina going over the finer points of The Death of the Vazir-Mukhtar.  
  
... I kinda hate to say it, but I usually got completely lost when I tried to listen in, but by now I'm pretty sure I've picked up enough to hold my own.  
  
But like I said: I never meant to drag Toothiana into it. It just kinda happened._  
  
"Morning, Snowflake." Seraphina leaned against the counter like it was the only thing holding her up, peering at Jack over the top of a pair of cheap sunglasses. Considering the height of her heels and what she'd probably done last night, it probably was. "How much of my soul for an iced chai?"  
  
"Didn't you already bargain away your soul for a the chocolate with hot peppers in it?" Aster had inflicted his latest culinary creation on everyone who'd walked through the door that day, and Seraphina had come back for more. By the time she left, the entire batch was gone.  
  
A ten slid across the counter to Jack, and another hovered over the tip jar, just waiting to fall in. "My firstborn?" she offered.  
  
A giggle emerged from the booth nearest the counter. Toothiana was perched there with a pile of text books, waiting patiently for Jack's shift to end. Today was the day they were going hunting for a new couch, and after the Incident With The Bean Bags, it had been agreed that anything Jack considered required her approval first. Even if _he_ was the one who was going to be sleeping on it.  
  
Seraphina turned her head slowly, still looking at the world over the top of her shades, which slipped further down her long nose as she studied Toothiana. Slowly, she smiled and let the ten drop into the jar immediately followed by the change Jack had pushed back across the counter, slinking over to Toothiana's perch. Something in the smile made Jack's hair stand on end, but...  
  
Well, Toothiana was a big girl, right? She could handle Seraphina for the few minutes it would take him to make the damn tea, right?  
  
Right.  
  
By the time it was done, Seraphina and Toothiana were chatting like old friends. Neither girl payed Jack any mind at all when he slid the tea onto the table, or when he stood there until Aster yelled at him to get back to work.


	3. Chapter 3

_In my defense, I really didn't have a clue who Kozmotis Pitchiner was outside the context of Seraphina's silver fox of a dad who showed up every couple of weeks to give her money and generally look disappointed. God knows he wasn't what I'd call a regular (even though by the third visit I knew his regular order as well as I knew Seraphina's -- black coffee with no sugar and a pastrami on rye if he was feeling peckish). He'd stay for two cups as long as his phone didn't go off, then he'd leave, usually leaving an envelope full of cash behind._

_Half the money would be in the Cause Jar by the time Seraphina left. She liked the Cause Jar, and Aster liked money going into the Cause Jar, so it was all good._

_I don't know what inspired me to actually ask her about her father. It was just -- she was still coming down off whatever and had retreated to the back alley to deal with it, and I was taking my 15 minutes out there and it just kinda happened._

The alley was rank with the stench of old garbage, piss, and fresh vomit. Seraphina was wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, smearing glittery blue lipstick as she looked up to see Jack stepping out the back door. She smiled weakly, the glitter of her false flashes catching the light as she stepped away from the puddle he was carefully ignoring. "Morning, Snowflake."

"Morning, Butterfly," Jack replied without really thinking. She jerked sharply away like she'd been slapped, one high heel nearly slipping in the vomit puddle.

"Nobody calls me that but Daddy," she half groaned, trying to clean off her shoe on the pavement. "Ick."

Jack looked anywhere but down, swallowing hard to keep his breakfast from making a return appearance. "Sorry."

"It's cool," Seraphina finally conceded after a few moments, still trying to clean her shoe.

"So you, uh, you're not close?" There were days when Jack thought he might have been better off if he stapled his mouth shut.

She let out a hollow laugh as she staggered away from the wall. "How can you be close to someone who's never there? When he's not terrorizing someone in the courtroom, he's looking for ways to fuck people over in the name of his firm. He's just waiting for me to 'come to my senses'," she spat, scrubbing at her smeared lipstick. "Keeping an eye on me so I don't get into trouble. Don't wanna make him look bad." The expression that crossed Seraphina's face was technically a smile. "Watch your step, Snowflake," she cautioned, staggering out of the alley and into the day.

 

_I never told her -- and God, sometimes I wish I had -- that I'd have given a hell of a lot to have a father who cared enough about me to keep tabs on me the way her father did. Probably wouldn't have made a difference then, but I guess it's all about hindsight. By that point I'd pretty much been on my own a couple of years (but it felt like forever), and Dad had been a non-factor in my life even longer than that. I called Mom and Emma every now and then, just to let 'em know I was still alive, but... yeah. Just me, no responsibilities, just fun times._

_Sometimes I kinda hated Seraphina, but not really._

 

Kozmotis Pitchiner had drunk his usual two cups of coffee, waiting with more patience than Jack would have been able to pull off, all things considered. Seraphina had yet to put on an appearance, and he had his phone laid out on the table in front of him. Despite pretending to be more interested in the morning paper, he kept glancing at the phone as if it might suddenly produce a text or a missed call he hadn't noticed before. He didn't _look_ worried, just annoyed, but there was something a bit off about it, like the way Seraphina would laugh when one of her hangers on started to bore her. He surreptitiously straightened his tie and glanced at his phone again before snatching it up and dialing a number.

"I'm here, where are you? Call me as soon as you get this."

He stayed for three more cups of coffee, checking his phone each time it rang and ignoring it until the right number finally came up on the caller ID.


	4. Chapter 4

_I'd never really done birthdays, until that first year at **Oestre**. My family was of the deeply (some would say weirdly) religious type, where holidays were to be spent in quiet meditation and birthdays were a non-event. Not having any money was also kinda a factor, I think. **After** I left... well, money was **still** a factor. But I could (and did) sneak into clubs and get absolutely stinking drunk. Not really sure if that counts, since for a couple of years, getting shitfaced was what I did on a nightly basis._

_No wonder Seraphina and I got along so well._

_That mostly changed when one of Toothiana's billion sisters got her to let me crash on her couch because I completely saved her (the sister, that is) from making an idiot of herself with a well timed drink poured down a douchebag's back. But the couch came with a price; Mr. Fun Times had to get his ass employed._

_Once again, one of Toothiana's sisters saved my ass -- not on purpose, cause that one totally hated me. She'd just quit working at **Oestre** , and she hooked me up with Sanderson. I'm sure she expected me to quit the first time Aster went nuts at me, but I'm way chill. And I really needed the job._

_So yeah, anyway, birthdays. Not really a big deal until North found out._

 

"Is very important day!" the old man boomed, half dragging Jack over the counter as he pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Stop trying to crush the barista!" Aster snapped as he pried North's hands off Jack. "Finally got one who don't run when I shout, not gonna let you kill him."

"Is his birthday, and you make him slave!" North wailed dramatically. Jack glared in Toothiana's direction as he tried to catch his breath and straighten his apron. She had the good grace to look apologetic about letting the birthday thing slip, at least. "Shame! Shame on you all!"

"Get the mop bucket," Aster whispered to Jack, a malicious gleam in his eyes.

"It's the Snowflake's birthday?" Seraphina asked, popping around North's bulk like a mad, glittery Jack-in-the-Box. Her hair was slicked down by something that gave it a red sheen (and probably made it hard enough to withstand direct impact with a baseball), and it looked like her make-up had started to melt off at some point. The heels of her shoes had snapped off at some point during the night, and she chucked them into the garbage. "When's the party?"

"There isn't one!" North spun, grabbing Seraphina and lifting her off her feet. "Our little Jack will have no celebration!"

Seraphina's face went serious (which took some doing with the half melted make-up), and suddenly the resemblance to her father couldn't have been clearer. "Not on our watch, Nicky."

"Is anyone gonna ask me what I want?" Jack wondered out loud, only half teasing.

"You wanna go to the the ball," Seraphina informed him primly, "have a fabulous time, dance with the prince, and get home before Aster turns you into a pumpkin. Lucky for you, we're just the fairy godmothers to pull it off."

"I'm not Cinderella!"

"Gimme an hour and a corset, Snowflake."

 

_She didn't follow through with the corset, thank God. Never a-fucking-gain, thank you very much!_

_But she did give Toothiana an address before sweeping off with her chai to go, and North made it clear that my evil, traitorous roommate was to make sure I got there even if it took stuffing me into a sack._

_Seraphina, it turned out, lived in an obscenely huge loft, in a building that had once been a factory. It was in the part of town that was slowly losing the war between the actual artists and poor people who'd lived there and worked to make it livable and artsy and the yuppie scum who saw all the artsy-ness and thought it'd be a charming place to live once they chased out the poor people._

_North's said I have a bit of a revolutionary streak in me._

_Seraphina wasn't _alone_ in the loft; there was an ever changing colony of club kids, artists, weirdos, burn outs, and drop outs using it as a place to crash. They embraced Seraphina with open arms because, whatever they might say about the bourgeois and the one-percenters, it's nice to have someone around who'll let you in from the cold so you can raid their fridge._

"Birthday boy is here!" North announced, hauling Jack into the loft. A cheer went up from the kitchen (which was differentiated from everything else by a counter loaded down with food) and a grunt from a cluster of bean bag chairs where Aster was being hounded by a pack of scene kids who wanted to know all about where he'd gotten his awesome tattoos. He looked like he was about ready to explode.

Seraphina burst out from another cluster and pounced on Jack, pulling him into a hug that was almost as crushing as one of North's. It took him a moment to realize that she was wearing _very little_ in the way of actual clothes; naturally, that moment of realization hit him while his head was against her chest, since she was one of those women who didn't have the good sense to stop growing before they started towering over most guys. There was a top, sort of, anchored around her neck and draping down just past her breasts, that probably would have blown away in a strong breeze. Her hair probably would have covered more, if it hadn't been piled on top of her head. "Finally! Do you have any idea how hard it's been to keep these locusts off the cake?" She released Jack and spun around, letting out a whistle that could have melted earwax while Jack got a good look at the flower covered vines and butterflies that had been drawn on her bare back. They crept and twined across her arms and belly, and dove right into her shorts before re-emerging to twist down her legs, tinting her pale skin with various shades of red.

Behind Jack, Toothiana let out a little squeak.

"Okay, everyone NOT here for Jack's birthday needs to leave now! Come on! Up up up!"

Slowly and with a great deal of whining and prodding, the loft began to empty. For a moment, Jack thought most of the ones who remained where just people from Seraphina's little cloud of followers who'd thought to buy something to pass off as a present -- strangers just looking for a place to party -- but then he realized that he _knew_ the remaining faces. Sure, a lot of them _were_ Seraphina's creatures, but they were the ones who would come into _Oestre_ even when she wasn't there. The ones who tipped, the ones who were kind of nice -- and the guys clusered around the stereo arguing over the music were North's cronies, the ones who'd tried to teach him to play chess the day the power had gone out! Over in the group Seraphina had emerged from, Mrs. Bennett (who came in every Saturday with her kids) was carefully applying a flower to her daughter Sophie's cheek using the same red dye that covered Seraphina's skin.

Jack let out of soft "Wow", and North clapped him on the back before joining his minions in their argument over what music to put on.

"Didn't think I was gonna just invite a bunch of strangers, did you?" Seraphina teased, ruffling Jack's hair until it stood up in white spikes. "Eat first, then get rid of your shirt. Nobody's leaving until everyone's got some art."

 

_Turned out, I have the perfect skin for drawing on. Seraphina, Sophie, and Jamie Bennett all agreed._

_So yeah, my first real birthday party. Jamie ended up talking Aster into helping him replicate some of Aster's own tattoos, and we all got a long ass lecture on each one's cultural significance, and then he let us eat the cake he'd made. The booze didn't really come out until after Mrs. Bennett and the kids went home, and then it was plentiful enough to get North to sing along to Lady Gaga._

_I ended up sleeping on one of the bean bag chairs -- after epically failing to beat both North and Aster at drinking, I was a little too completely unable to move to get home._

_I'm not sure where Toothiana ended up sleeping. The last thing I remember before passing out was Seraphina talking her out of her shirt and using the henna to draw feathers on Toothiana's back._

_She wasn't there when I woke up the next afternoon._


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time. Real life is a pain in the ass.

_I didn't recognize Seraphina when she came in that day. I honestly didn't expect her to show up at all; when she came, it was almost always right after opening (sometimes before. I've lost count of how many times I showed up to unlock to find her sitting outside the door, waiting), and if she didn't put on an appearance by lunchtime, she wasn't coming in at all._

_I was stuck working a bit later than usual (well, I say stuck but lets be honest: I needed the money) thanks to Aster doing some Aster-thing that he never bothered to explain about. So it was me and Phil when Kozmotis and Sanderson came in and immediately commandeered the corner booth. Mister Too-Regal-For-A-Coffee-Shop looked like he'd have just as soon left us plebs and gone somewhere private with soft piano music and that didn't smell a little bit like the kid who'd been sick all over the bathroom, but Sanderson blocked him in. For such a little guy, he could be amazingly hard to move._

_Okay, okay, I was maybe kinda not paying attention the woman who came up to the counter. Not my fault the old guy was distracting. Who the hell wears waistcoats anyway? They should be outlawed._

"Hey, Snowflake."

Seraphina didn't look at all like herself as she drummed her nails on the counter. Brilliant glitter and colorful clothing had been replaced by understated make up and a suit jacket matched with a pencil skirt. Her hair was down and completely without any ornamentation, or dye, or funky looking braids. It fell down to her knees in dark waves, held back only by the shades she pushed up to the top of her head. Her eyes were red -- not 'fucked up on something' red, more 'been crying' red -- and the grin she flashed Jack was weak.

"Please, please stop staring at my dad like you wanna drag him into the toilet and eat him alive. I got enough emotional damage to deal with today."

Jack flinched, and he ignored Phil's guffaw while the big man dragged the mop bucket into the bathroom. "You okay?"

"Peachy fucking keen," Seraphina trilled. "Beautiful day for a walk."

"Yeah. Usual?" Jack was already going through the motions without thinking about it. For someone who seemed to pride herself on being so wild, Seraphina did like her little routines.

"And a green tea for Uncle Sandy."

Jack caught sight of Toothiana sitting by the window with her stack of text books. She'd taken to haunting _Oestre_ when her classes allowed, and they usually caught the bus home together. In theory, she was studying those books, but in practice she was watching Seraphina with an expression Jack could only call 'desperately lovelorn'. Seraphina had taken to sweeping Toothiana into her orbit, but Jack wasn't really sure what the hell was going on; most of the time, he didn't want to know. But it all kinda stank of starcrossed lovers and broken hearts, which made him kinda mad when he _did_ think about it, cause he honestly didn't want to see his friend get hurt, especially by someone who didn't realize how much she _cared_.

Toothiana would probably have told him it was none of his business anyway, and Seraphina... she'd just smile one of her more maddening, enigmatic smiles and go all philosophical at him. So for now, Jack would keep his big mouth shut.


	6. Chapter 6

_The thing about being the outsider looking in is that you're piecing the story together bit by bit, and you're **always** missing some important piece of the puzzle. I've overheard a crapton of conversations -- lets face it, people in my position are pretty much invisible unless we do something wrong -- but I rarely get the context._

Sanderson's apartment was cozy and cluttered, with every flat surface given over to nick-nacks, tchotchkes, and dream-like pictures. Several easels were set up where the light was best, displaying several unfinished works.

Jack wandered through the maze of things, just looking around -- after all, when was he gonna get another chance? -- while Aster complained at Sanderson about how they should have done something about the pipes years ago. Downstairs was a swamp; the water was ankle deep around the counter, and the carpets had squished horribly beneath Jack's feet when he'd come in that morning. Aster had been in the middle of one of the most epic freak outs Jack had ever seen, pretty much guaranteeing that the plumbers weren't gonna be coming till they were good and ready. Sanderson had dragged them both upstairs after letting Aster vent, and now Jack was just killing time until the next bus going home came by.

Dancing swan maidens circled tiny dinosaurs on one of the tables, keeping Jack's attention until he noticed a pair of twisted trees that formed the frames for a series of photographs, arranged in what he quickly realized were a story.

A very young Sanderson (maybe even younger than Jack) with a pretty girl who shared his round face and golden hair, sitting together in a garden. Sanderson and the girl again, him in a suit and her in a dress, at a party with a bunch of other people. A blurry candid shot from the same party of the girl dancing with a tall man in a dress uniform, his back to the camera. Another shot of the party goers, but at the last second the girl had moved, and was tugging a young Kozmotis Pitchner into frame -- she was laughing, and he looked startled. A very formal picture of Kozmotis and the young woman standing in the same garden as the first; her smiling, him looking uncomfortable. There were more pictures of Kozmotis and the woman, some candid, some not, and some with Sanderson in them. Handsome as he was, the man couldn't seem to get comfortable on camera.

A wedding photo stood out, the woman in white lace and Kozmotis in a nicer version of his dress uniform. Then a series of photos of the woman as her belly grew rounder and rounder, ending in a hospital room. She was glaring at whoever was taking the picture, reaching for a pillow as if to throw it, while Kozmotis sprawled in a nearby chair, a little pink bundle cradled in his arms. He looked utterly enthralled and more than a little terrified.

The next row of photos showed Kozmotis more relaxed than Jack had ever seen him, in real life or in the pictures, as he hovered around what could only be a little Seraphina. He even managed to crack a few smiles. Especially brilliant was the one of him holding on to the bridle of a coal black pony that Seraphina sat astride. The woman continued to be a presence, but Jack noticed her growing more and more wane as the years went on, almost like the life was slowly draining out of her. The last few pictures where the woman featured showed her lovely golden hair gone, her head wrapped in a series of colorful scarves, and Seraphina and Kozmotis's smiles took on a pained look.

Sanderson bumped Jack's elbow, jostling him from the thoughts swirling in his brain, and held up a plate of pancakes.

"Your sister?" Jack guessed.

Sanderson nodded with a fond little smile. "Astrid. We lost her three years ago."

"Sorry." That was all there really was to say without sounding like a complete tool, and Jack sometimes thought even that was really lame.

Sanderson smiled and half shrugged in a way that said 'It is what it is.' Aster was on the phone again, abusing some poor shmuck of a repairman, and Sanderson floated off to stop him before nobody at all would come.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suppose, after six chapters of world building and farting around, I really should do something kind of plot-like...

_You know, it's amazing how you can get caught up in other people's lives..._

_One minute, you're just the guy who makes the coffee, and before you know it, you're practically their best friend. Maybe it's just because they became the people I saw so often._

_Maybe it was because they cared about me. I've spent most of my life being kinda invisible, but I was **there** to these people._

"He's not usually late," Seraphina muttered mostly to herself as Jack refilled her cup, checking her messages for the twelfth time in an hour. A cold cup of coffee sat across the table from her, untouched the entire time.

Jack gave a one shouldered shrug and a sympathetic half-smile, but her worry was infectious. Seraphina might flake out on these meetings, but Kozmotis was never, _ever_ late.

Jack moved off, and North descended on her as the music changed, pulling her into a dance that set Aster to yelling, trying to get them to stop and utterly failing. North retaliated by letting Seraphina go and sweeping Aster into a waltz, to the delight of the other customers. There was clapping and cheering, and the moment North let Aster go, Sophie pounced on him for her own dance. Jack hid behind the counter, intent on playing the role of dutiful employee. If he had his phone out, recording the video... so what? No one could say Jack wasn't doing his job.

Seraphina staggered over to the counter, still giggling as she watched Aster give the little girl the dance she demanded. The big man had a special soft spot for the youngest Bennett, and often indulged her when he would have told anyone else to rack off.

"I want copies," she whispered, winking. "So, is the pretty bird gonna be joining us today?"

"She's doing family stuff today," Jack whispered back. Fifty billion sisters had descended on the tiny apartment, chasing Jack out. He didn't know why they'd all flocked together, but surely nothing good could come of it.

Seraphina pouted, pointing to a pastry under the glass of the counter. "I'll just have to drown my sorrows in food then. And another cup of coffee for Daddy."

"A wise and sensible choice." Jack fished the chocolaty confection out. "Have you, uh... called him?"

Seraphina started chewing her lower lip, then stopped with a distressed look, trying to scrape glitter off her tongue with her teeth. "He won't answer."

"Bullsh-" He stopped himself, but only just, glancing in the direction of the Bennetts. Asterhad been dragged over, and Mrs. Bennett was doing her best to extricate him from Sophie's sticky embrace. Swearing at a customer was one of those things that _wasn't done_ , but he was pretty sure he could get away with it when it came to Seraphina. "Call him."

She took her pastry and the coffee and went back to the table, rolling her eyes.

Two hours later, there was still no sign of Kozmotis Pitchiner, but there _was_ a flock of Toothiana's sisters tittering over North and making eyes as Aster and Jack. Seraphina payed them absolutely no attention, instead focusing on her phone like it was suddenly going to show a missed call or a text. Toothiana hovered nearby for a while before finally plucking up the nerve to sit down. One hand lightly covered Seraphina's own, like she wasn't sure if it was allowed.

Seraphina turned her hand so the palm was up, threading her fingers through Toothiana's as her phone started to play the Imperial March from Star Wars. Seraphina sat up sharply. "Daddy?"

Jack didn't really mean to listen in; technically, he was wiping down tables. It wasn't _his_ fault he happened to be doing the tables nearest Seraphina.

"Shh. I need you to listen very carefully," Kozmotis whispered, sending up a red flag in Jack's mind. Why would he _whisper_? "There's... a problem here. I don't know when-" He stopped, and Jack could hear someone trying to force open a door. " _Listen_ ," he went on, in a hurry now. "Whatever happens, you need to know how much I love you. You understand me, Butterfly? _I love you._ "

Wood shattered, and someone let out an ugly laugh. "Found another one!"

There was a scream, then the roar of a shotgun.

" _Daddy!_ "


	8. Chapter 8

_Family is weird. They're these people you probably don't even **like** half the time, but even if they completely drop out of your life forever, they're still a part of you. They shaped you into what you are, which guides what you'll become... and sometimes, even when you hate them, you still love them too._

_And you will do the absolutely, positively **craziest** shit when you think they're hurt._

 

North was old, but he was also big and very, very strong. Seraphina was taller than a lot of women even when she wasn't wearing her heels, but her brand of fighting depending heavily on cheap tricks and everyone around her being more fucked up than she was. _She_ was still hung over from last night, and North knew more tricks than Seraphina could have ever hoped to learn in her short lifetime. He kept Seraphina trapped in a bear hug so she was facing away from him, pinning her arms to her sides and ignoring her ineffectual kicks. She screeched obscenities and tried to slam the back of her head into North's face, but he was a canny old thing and not about to be caught by that little trick.

"Lemme go, lemme _go_! Daddy-"

Aster herded the last of the customers out, ignoring their protests as Toothiana slipped back in. She shouted a promise to her sisters to call them just as soon as everything was sorted out while Aster locked the door. He turned, striding across the cafe with narrowed eyes, and when he reached North and Seraphina, he drew his hand back and delivered a ringing slap across her face. The hysterics stopped, and Aster jumped back before she could plant her foot in his stomach. "That's enough of that."

"Someone _shot my daddy!_ " Seraphina yowled, still squirming in North's grasp.

Toothiana hovered close, clearly distressed, and growing more so as she realized there was nothing she could do. She clutched Seraphina's phone, pressed redial every time it clicked over to Kozmotis's voice mail. "We don't _know_ that!" she insisted. "He might be fine-"

_This is Kozmotis Pitchiner. Leave a message._

The absolutely stricken look Seraphina turned on Toothiana was more effective than any of the curses she tried to spit out. Jack came through the back, Sanderson moving along in his wake. Only Sanderson's smile was absent, replaced by fear that he was desperately struggling to hide. "I'm on hold," he murmured. "Aster, try the radio."

"You can't keep me here!"

Sanderson watched the girl, still trapped in North's bear hug. "Keep hold of her until we know what's going on."

"Bastard!"

North grunted. "Kick me again and you'll regret it, moy malenʹkiy angel."

Aster flipped through a dozen stations, past twangy country, soulless pop, and something that sounded Greek until-

"-hostage situation at Lunaroff, Joyce, and Pitchner, best known for their involvement in-"

Jack felt like the bottom dropped out of his world. Seraphina keened like a wounded animal, and North let her drop. Her legs folded up as she hit the floor, and Toothiana wrapped her arms around the girl, holding her tightly.

"-reports of gunfire-"

Sanderson's phone dropped out of his hand, hitting the floor with a clatter. "Christ, Koz-" Seraphina sobbed unintelligibly, shrugging Sanderson's hand off when he laid it on her shoulder and burying her face against Toothiana's chest. "Get her upstairs. _Don't let her leave._ "

Jack helped Toothiana get Seraphina back on her feet, and together they half carried her through the kitchen and up the back steps. "This way." Seraphina's legs didn't seem to want to support her weight, and even with Toothiana's help, she was heavy. Thankfully, Sanderson's door was still open, and they managed to get Seraphina to the couch while only knocking over two tables of knick-knacks.

Toothiana's phone kept going off every few seconds, but she ignored it.

"Your sisters are gonna give you hell if you keep ignoring them," Jack pointed out, desperate for _anything_ to think about other than a desperate whisper of _I love you_ and the roar of a gun.

"'m gonna puke," Seraphina mumbled to no one moments before she did.


	9. Chapter 9

_I hate the way hospitals smell. There's something horribly desperate about the way the antiseptic tries to cover up the stench of blood, shit, disease, and death. And it never really works -- the death-stink is always lurking just underneath. You can almost forget it's there, then suddenly **BAM** , it hits you like a punch to the face._

_I don't **do** hospitals._

_Usually._

 

They'd come in North's van; the old guy was the only one with transport big enough for everyone, and his cheerful disregard for traffic laws got them from _Oester_ to St. Francis in just under twenty minutes. Jack kind of wished it'd taken them longer; at least in the van there had been something to concentrate on other than the lingering smell of death. Seraphina had gone eerily, frighteningly quiet, not even crying anymore. She just stared at the industrial green wall as she sat on the hard bench outside the OR. Toothiana hovered around her, plying her with bad hospital coffee, but Seraphina didn't so much as bat an eyelid in response.

In an effort to keep from screaming, Jack commandeered his roommate's phone and started running interference with her sisters, occasionally stopping to call Aster to keep him apprised of the situation.

Truthfully, Jack didn't know why he stayed, or what he was really doing there... just that he _needed_ to be there. He also eavesdropped on Sanderson while the man talked to the police officer that had come in with Kozmotis. The cop looked as ill as Jack felt, and most people found Sanderson amazingly easy to talk to, to the point where they said things they didn't mean to say. Mostly, the guy wasn't telling Sanderson anything Jack hadn't already guessed. Three men had stormed into the office with guns and started shooting -- no one knew why, and the gunmen hadn't been identified yet.

Kozmotis had herded as many people as he could into the back of the office, standing guard over them. He'd made his phone call to Seraphina moments before he'd been found and shot.

According to the officer, while one of the gunmen was trying to get through the door Kozmotis had been guarding, the injured man attacked him. Somehow, it had ended with the other man's head blown off (not the cop's exact words, but Jack was good at filling in the gaps, especially when it came to phrases like 'the damage is hindering identification'). They were still trying to figure out what had happened after that; by the time the police had stormed in, the other gunmen were dead and Kozmotis had been conscious only long enough to tell them who he was and demand to speak with his daughter.

 

Hours later, Kozmotis Pitchner was still in surgery, and nobody could tell them anything. Seraphina made no move to leave even as night fell, and Toothiana had fallen asleep with her head on the girl's lap. Sanderson kept disappearing on mysterious errands, and Jack didn't know when North had gone home.

Jack tried to say something, to tell Seraphina that everything was going to be okay and that her dad was going to be just fine, but the words wouldn't come.

"You look like shit."

"I feel like shit," Seraphina croaked. "I can't lose him too. I lost Mama, I can't do it again."

"You gonna stay here?"

"I'll kill anyone who tries to make me leave," she insisted. "Uncle Sandy can get you home, if you wanna go."

"You think _I'm_ going anywhere? Toothiana's sisters are waiting for me at home, and they'll rip me apart!"

Seraphina actually managed to laugh weakly, stroking Toothiana's hair.


	10. Chapter 10

_Life goes on._

_That's just how it works. No matter how horrible the day before, there are still people in search of a great cup of coffee, bills to be paid, classes to go to... not all of us can afford to sit vigil at someone's bedside, no matter how much you might want to._

_**Oester** opened up the day after Kozmotis Pitchiner was shot at the usual time. Aster was his usual sour self, Sanderson floated in and out like he always did, North laughed and told stories... people came and went, just like always._

_It was almost easy to forget Seraphina wasn't there. Toothiana came by, picked up enough coffee to go to fuel a small army, then disappeared again. She stayed with Seraphina as long as she could, but there were only so many classes she could miss before she got into deep shit._

_So, life went on._

_We adjusted to not having Seraphina stumbling in half drunk in the morning and camping out. Her cronies continued to come by, but they rarely lingered, save for the few who had managed to worm their way into North's circle or just felt like hanging out. Toothiana kept me up to date on the Pitchiner front, at least as much as she could. Mostly, we were the proverbial ships passing in the night._

_There were complications. Something about infections, old war wounds that hadn't healed right in the first place, and a mix up with medications. I never got the full story; Toothiana ended up face planting into her cereal, and I didn't see her for more than a minute or two the rest of the week._

_Sometimes, life doesn't let you hear the end of the story._

_But every now and then, it does._

 

"I swear to God, Seraphina, if you don't stop hovering I'm going to put my painkillers into your drink!"

Seraphina ignored her father, helping him prop his leg up on the chair she'd swiped from the next table before planting a kiss on his forehead. "Like that'd even slow me down."

Kozmotis made a show of brushing at the glitter his daughter left behind as she sat, barely sparing a nod for Jack when he brought the coffee. Seraphina was fighting with Kozmotis's crutches, trying to get them to stay leaning against the wall when all they wanted to do was fall down.

Toothiana was perched on the other side of _Oester_ , pretending to be engrossed in her stack of text books. Jack wasn't fooled, and he doubted Seraphina was either, but today was clearly Father-Daughter day, and there was no place for Toothiana in it.

Kozmotis drained his cup slowly, watching Seraphina get comfortable. "Is your girlfriend planning on joining us, or is she just going to stare all day?" he asked in a stage whisper, not bothering to suppress a smirk when Toothiana spilled her tea all over her text book.

"Daddy, be nice!" Seraphina hissed while Jack brought his roommate paper towels to soak up the mess.

"I'm an invalid, I don't _have_ to be. Besides, I'm tired of her fluttering about trying to pretend she's not exactly what she is." Kozmotis shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable. "So bring her over. I want to terrorize her properly."

"You're horrible," Seraphina sighed.

Her father's smile was wicked as he watched her cross the room. "My dear Butterfly, I have not yet begun. I think it's long past time I saw this flat of yours, and I'm afraid I must insist upon meeting all these people you can't seem to shut up about."

For a moment, as Seraphina tried to reassure Toothiana that her father wasn't _really_ an evil bloodsucking money grubbing bastard, Jack's eye's met Kozmotis. In that moment, he could have sworn he saw the man wink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done! Huzzah!
> 
> Might or might not write a sequel to this. We'll see.


End file.
